PORTLAND, Jamaica — Anthony East and Devontae Brown landed a  marlin weighing 162 pounds on the canoe ‘Crystal’ on Tuesday, to capture the 41st Port Antonio Canoe Tournament at the Ole Marina, Port Antonio.

As part of their prize, the duo received a Yamaha boat engine from the company Yamaja.

Second was Marvin Brown on ‘King Fish’ with a 108- lb marlin, while third was ‘Rabbit of the Sea’ with a 103- lb catch.

Brown was elated.

“It was an exciting catch, a wonderful catch and good for us. It was challenging when we hooked up, but it was expected,” he said.

East expressed similar sentiments.

“A good little fight he [marlin] gave us, but we catch him and take him in safely,” he stressed.

“We thought the tournament would have been called off when we heard of the weather conditions but it was alright still and on our way up [from Annotto Bay], we got a bite, so we were sure we were going to win something today. We are grateful for the tournament outcome,” he added.

Max Rochester, director for the Sir Henry Morgan Anglin Association, who had  responsibility  for the running of the tournament along with the Portland Chamber of Commerce, was happy with the outcome of the event.

“At the beginning of the day, I was very worried. Only one marlin came in, not that big then, but by the end of the day, you had four marlin. Over the years, the canoe tournament has been a success story…”, he said.

Andrew Alexander of Yamaja, who sponsored the Yamaha engine, said, “We are proud of you guys and grateful to you fishermen for your support over the years as you are our main customers and we really appreciate you and decided this year again that we were going to sponsor an engine”.

Some 68 boats were registered for the tournament.

– Everard Owen